All of the headlines from Tuesday’s press conference in Cologne including the
announcement that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be Xbox One exclusive.

Microsoft kicked off the Gamescom show in Cologne, Germany with a continued focus on new games and one divisive bombshell. Here are the headlines.

Rise of the Tomb Raider to be exclusive to Xbox One ‘Holiday 2015’

In a move that has proved divisive, Square Enix announced that the sequel to the excellent Tomb Raider reboot, Rise of the Tomb Raider will be exclusive to Xbox One ‘in holiday 2015’. There has been some confusion over whether the ambiguous wording means that the exclusivity deal is timed, rather than indefinite. Xbox Phil Spencer told CVG: “We’re saying what we said on stage, in Holiday 2015, Rise of the Tomb Raider will be exclusive to Xbox. That’s the comment.” So that’s cleared that up.

The news has angered many Tomb Raider fans that feel the game’s multi-platform heritage should be honoured, and that an exclusivity deal with Microsoft alienates a large proportion of the fanbase.

Head of Crystal Dynamics Darrel Gallagher posted a defence on the decision on the Tomb Raider website, saying that Microsoft’s backing “will be a step to really forging the Tomb Raider brand as one of the biggest in gaming.” This has done little to appease those scorned fans, however, and a petition on change.org to reverse the decision has reached 9,000 signatures at the time of writing.

Two new Xbox Ones, Call of Duty special edition and White Xbox One to be released with Sunset Overdrive

Microsoft revealed there will be two special edition Xbox One consoles released this year, a grey with orange trim Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare edition and the expected white Xbox One that will release alongside Sunset Overdrive. The Call of Duty edition will feature a 1TB hard drive and Advanced Warfare sound effects and will release on 3 November for $499.99 with the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Day Zero edition. The white Xbox One, meanwhile, will release with Sunset Overdrive on 31 October and is available for pre-order in the US for $399.99. Neither console has Kinect bundled within.

One of the most anticipated games for Xbox One, Halo 5 Guardians, will have a multiplayer beta that starts on 29 December. The beta is a 4v4 arena competitive mode and runs until January 13. For now the only way to access the beta is through Halo: The Master Chief Collection which is released on 11 November.

There will also be a major update to the Halo Waypoint hub, which will be renamed as the Halo Channel and will feature integrated Twitch support.

ScreamRide announced for Spring 2015

Made by Rollercoaster Tycoon developer Frontier Developments, ScreamRide is a blend of builtding and action as you create your own rollercoasters, pilot the carriages around them and, well, blowing them up. The game is another interesting small title for Microsoft as they build their downloadable lineup, including Ori and the Blind Forest and Smite.